REUSABLE BAG INITIATIVE
– Clean & Green Guyana and Supermarkets team-up to promote the project

PLANS are afoot to kick start a three-month pilot project for a reusable/biodegradable bag initiative in supermarkets throughout Guyana under the Clean and Green Guyana Initiative (C&GG) being administered by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and funded by the Inter-American Development Bank.The bag initiative is part of a larger effort by the C&GG to create behavioural change in the wanton and improper disposal of waste in Guyana. The objective of this initiative is to reduce the use of plastic bags by Guyanese consumers and businesses.

Plastic bags are a major environmental threat in Guyana and around the world as they end up as unsightly litter on the landscape. If plastic bags are buried in landfills, they may take up to 1,000 years to break down; and in the process, they separate into smaller toxic particles that contaminate soil and water.

There is hope, however, if Guyanese consumers use reusable shopping bags that are made of materials that do not need to be discarded after each use and are made of more environmentally-friendly materials than plastic, such as cloth.
How the reusable bag initiative works
Under the initiative, C&GG will provide selected supermarkets with reusable bags for distribution to customers and, along with these supermarkets, will use several ways to encourage customers to use these reusable bags. These include in-store messages reminding customers to return with the bags the next time they shop and personal messages which will see cashiers and store attendants encouraging customers to use reusable bags instead of plastic bags that are environmentally unfriendly.

Additionally, C&GG will interact with customers through social media on behalf of supermarkets in order to encourage the use of the reusable bags.

If the initiative proves successful, it could also provide a sustainable mechanism to expand these supermarkets’ social media engagement with their customers.

Guyanese consumers are urged to play their part in reducing the environmental damage that plastic bags cause and supporting the reusable bag initiative by refusing plastic bags when paying for items and using a reusable bag instead.